


Maybe Purgatory Isn't Such a Bad Place to Be

by dragonydreams



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Post-Season 3 Flashbacks, Pre-Series, island au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-20
Updated: 2015-04-02
Packaged: 2018-03-18 16:49:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 22,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3576795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonydreams/pseuds/dragonydreams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Felicity ends up on Lian Yu after escaping from the Triad.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Title: Maybe Purgatory Isn't Such a Bad Place to Be  
Author: Elisabeth / [](http://dragonydreams.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://dragonydreams.livejournal.com/)**dragonydreams**  
Rating: Mature  
Pairing: Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak  
Fandom: Arrow  
Summary: Felicity ends up on Lian Yu after escaping from the Triad.  
Spoilers/Timeline: Pre-Series/Post-Season 3 Flashbacks  
Disclaimer: I claim no ownership over these characters. I am merely borrowing them from Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg.  
Feedback: Yes please! It makes me happy and keeps me writing.  
Thanks to [](http://angelskuuipo.livejournal.com/profile)[**angelskuuipo**](http://angelskuuipo.livejournal.com/) and [](http://apckrfan.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://apckrfan.livejournal.com/)**apckrfan** for beta'ing this and for all of the hand holding as I found myself rushing head first into a new fandom.  
Author's Note 1: This story was inspired by watching _Romancing the Stone_.  
Author's Note 2: This is my maiden voyage into the Arrow fandom, so please be kind.

 

  
Chapter 1

Felicity groaned, coming to slowly. There was a rush of cold against her feet, prompting her to become more alert. She knew that wasn't right for some reason.

When it happened for a third time, she forced her eyes open.

Sand.

That was the first thing she noticed. She was lying on sand. How did she come to be lying on sand?

She pushed herself up into a sitting position and reached up to brush sand from her cheek. Her hand bumped her glasses and she was relieved to find they were still on her face.

She did a quick inventory. Glasses, check. Ponytail, check. Shoes, two of them, check. Sundress and cardigan seemed to be intact, if wet.

Glancing behind her, she spotted her messenger bag. She pulled it to her and desperately opened it. Her tablet and phone were both still inside, although thoroughly waterlogged. Where was a large bag of rice when you needed it? She hoped she'd be able to get them to dry out enough to use them to determine where she was.

Cold washed over her feet again and she realized that it was water lapping at her feet. She stared at the wave receding from her and forced herself to move before it came back again. She tried to stand and found she didn't have the energy to do so, but she did manage to crawl farther inland.

Looking back toward the water, Felicity tried to remember how she got there. She didn't see a boat nearby. She also didn't see one in the distance, which was worrisome.

Her forehead crinkled and she absentmindedly pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as she tried harder to remember. The not knowing was starting to really scare her.

A rustling noise behind her caused Felicity to turn around. About fifty feet behind her a wooded area could be seen. Her heart leapt into her throat as she imagined all kinds of wild animals that could be hiding in the dense forest. They had things like mountain lions and tigers in China, right? She was a tech geek without any weapons. What was she supposed to do if she encountered a wild animal? Granted, she wouldn't know what to do even if she did have a weapon, but not having one made the situation that much scarier.

"I..." Felicity started to speak, but her throat was dry. Which seemed like it shouldn't be possible if she'd just spent who knows how long in the water. She swallowed some saliva, wet her lips and tried again. "I don't know who or what is out there, but you don't want to eat me."

Felicity blinked at what stepped out from behind a tree. It was a man with long hair wearing cargo pants and a long sleeved shirt, carrying a bow and wearing a quiver strapped to his back.

She closed her eyes and shook her head. "Great, now I'm fantasizing about being rescued by Robin Hood," she muttered to herself.

"Not Robin Hood," the aberration said just a couple of yards from her.

Felicity "eep"ed and opened her eyes to find the most stunning blue eyes staring back at her. They almost seemed to be laughing at her.

He'd kept his distance, but was squatting just out of reach from her. Felicity lifted herself to her knees and leaned forward, hand outstretched until she could poke him in the knee. She scrambled back when her hand encountered a solid body.

"Wh-who are you?" she nervously asked. "How did I get here? Did you bring me here?"

"My name is Oliver, and no, I did not bring you here. I didn't see how you arrived, which means that you weren't left here by boat or plane. You really don't know?" he asked.

Felicity shook her head, beginning to panic. Her breath began to come in shorter and shorter gasps and her heart was pounding a mile a minute. "I... I don't... How..."

She looked at Oliver, her eyes wide and her hand on her chest.

"Calm down, you're having a panic attack," Oliver said, coming closer. When she didn't back away, he came to her side. He began to rub her back in soothing circles. "Try to take a deep breath. In, out. In, out." He took a few slow, deep breaths, trying to get her to match him. After a couple of false starts, she managed to breathe a bit easier. "There you go."

"Thank you," she said once her breathing was almost back to normal.

"You're welcome..." He looked at her, expectantly.

"Oh, right. Felicity. My name is Felicity Smoak." She held her hand out.

"You're welcome, Felicity," Oliver said, shaking her hand. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Oliver Queen."

Felicity gasped, snatching her hand back, causing Oliver to frown. "Ol-Oliver Queen? No, he's dead."

Oliver grimaced. "Actually, I'm not. I survived when the boat went down."

"But that was..." Felicity tried to remember how long it had been since it was in the news. She was still at MIT at the time, but it was after Cooper had been arrested.

"Three years ago," Oliver finished. "Give or take."

"You've been here all this time?" Felicity asked.

"Mostly," Oliver answered with a shrug. Now was not the time or the place to go into his indentured servitude to A.R.G.U.S., if ever. "Look, we shouldn't stay out here in the open much longer. You're probably thirsty and hungry. Come on, I've got a place where you can rest."

He stood and held a hand out for Felicity. Hesitantly, she reached out to take it, allowing him to help pull her to her feet. She wobbled a bit and then looked down at her feet. She was wearing flats - that had made it through whatever ordeal had landed her on this island - so it was her weak knees that were making it hard to stand.

At least she was blaming her knees and not the fact that a very handsome billionaire was standing there holding her hand. Reluctantly, she let go of Oliver's hand and took a step forward. And immediately nearly lost her balance. She would have fallen if Oliver hadn't grabbed her arm.

"I'm not usually such a klutz," she insisted. "Okay, maybe I am, but you try walking on sand after washing up on a beach."

"I remember what it was like," Oliver somberly said. "Don't worry, we can take it slow. Go ahead and lean on me."

Felicity blushed and hesitantly put a hand on his arm.

"I'm not going to bite," he promised her.

Felicity blew out a breath, knowing she was being silly. "I know. Thank you." When she nearly faltered again after attempting another step, she wrapped her hand around his (rather impressive) bicep and placed her other hand on his forearm.

This time they were able to move more than one step at a time. As they approached the woods, Felicity asked, "Where are we anyway?"

"Lian Yu," Oliver told her. "It means Purgatory."

Felicity gulped and followed Oliver into the woods.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Oliver slowly guided Felicity through the woods. Her eyes scanned around her, looking up to see the sky spotted through the tops of the trees. 

"Keep your eyes on the ground," Oliver warned her. "There are landmines, so you need to watch your step."

Felicity immediately stopped in her tracks. "Landmines? Real, active landmines?"

"They're left over from World War II, set by the Japanese," Oliver informed her.

"How do you know they're still active?" Felicity asked, still not moving.

"Because I stepped on one my first year here," Oliver admitted.

"But you're still alive," she pointed out. "How do you know they're still active?"

"It went off. It's a long story. Let's keep moving. You'll be fine, just watch where you step."

Felicity's grip on his arm tightened, but she allowed him to continue on.

It was another fifteen minutes or so of going uphill before Oliver led her to a cave. 

"In here," he said, before ducking inside.

Felicity looked around nervously, questioning the sanity of following a strange man into a dark cave in the middle of nowhere, before deciding that it was either this or try to fend for herself, and she had little hope of surviving long under that scenario.

Oliver was bent over a fire pit, coaxing a fire to life, when she entered the cave.

"How are your clothes?" he asked, his back to her.

"My clothes?" Felicity asked.

"Are they still wet? Do you need to take them off to dry out?" he clarified.

Felicity blushed. She reached one hand down to feel her skirt and one to her sweater to do the same. "They're, um, still kinda wet, but they're the only ones I've got, so I'll just keep them on."

Oliver nodded towards some clothes on the ground near the fire pit. "Those should fit."

Felicity crept closer and picked the clothes up. "These are women's clothes," she observed aloud.

"Yes, they are," Oliver acknowledged. "I'll step outside so you can change."

"Thank you." 

Felicity waited until Oliver was out of sight and, still blushing, quickly slipped out of her damp clothes and into the dry ones, keeping her underwear and bra on. While not a perfect fit, they would keep her warm; warmer than her own sundress would have been, at any rate.

"All clear," she called out as she hung her wet clothes from the line she found against the wall. 

Sitting on the ground beside the fire pit, Felicity began to pull her electronics out of her bag, grateful that they'd been powered off when she'd ended up in the water. 

When Oliver joined her, she looked woefully at her babies before looking up at him. "You wouldn't happen to have a large container of dry rice around here, would you?"

Oliver looked confused and shook his head no. "Sorry, fresh out of rice."

"Figures. Go to China and there's no rice when you need it," Felicity sighed.

"What do you need it for?" Oliver asked, sitting on the other side of the fire.

"To dry out my tablet and phone. Best way to save waterlogged devices is with rice," she informed him. "I'm not sure if they'll be salvageable without it, but I'll do my best with what I have to work with."

Felicity pulled out her toolkit and after making sure her tools were clean and dry she began to dismantle her phone and tablet.

"Hey, do you have a spare blanket or towel I can use?" she asked.

Oliver retrieved a couple of small towels and handed them to her. "I've been without technology for so long that I've forgotten what it's like to rely on it so much."

"I don't rely on my technology," Felicity huffed, methodically opening the case of her tablet, removing the battery, drying it, and then every other component she could remove. Oliver cocked an eyebrow at her, given how forlorn she looked. "Okay, maybe I do, but that's because technology is my life."

"Boy, have you landed in the wrong place," Oliver said.

"Tell me about it," Felicity agreed. "Is there even a cell tower around here if I did get them working?"

Oliver thought about it. Fyers had used SAT phones and walkie talkies, so he was assuming the answer was no.

"I don't think so. I only ever saw people using SAT phones and radios."

"I can work with that," Felicity said, perking up. "At least, I should be able to, if I can get my tablet working. It would be a shame to lose it; I just got it, after all."

"A gift from your parents?" Oliver asked, given the nostalgic look she was wearing.

"What? No!" As if her mother would ever be able to buy her tech. "It's from my boss. It's why I'm in China, actually."

Oliver grabbed a canteen and some dried meat from a chest and handed it to Felicity. "Why don't you tell me about it? Where do you work?"

"I work for you, actually," Felicity admitted. "Your family's company, that is."

Oliver couldn't help smiling at that coincidence. "How long have you been there? I don't remember seeing you around when I've been by."

"You wouldn't have seen me," Felicity countered. "First of all, you would never be down in IT and second of all, I'm not your type."

Oliver pouted. "How do you know what my type is?"

"I may be smart, but I still saw the tabloids. I've seen the kind of women you 'date'. Besides, I wasn't working for QC yet when you, um, left."

"I think I'm offended," Oliver said. "I'm also not that boy anymore."

"No, I don't think you are," Felicity agreed. She'd seen photos of Oliver - not just in the tabloids and news, but also in his mother's office. He'd always looked carefree in those photos. The man before her now was about as far from carefree as you could get.

"So how did you end up in China?" Oliver asked. "I wasn't aware that they sent IT personnel abroad very often."

"They don't," Felicity agreed. "This was kind of a unique situation. I may have only been there a year, but I'm the best damn thing to happen to that department in years, if I do say so myself."

"So modest," Oliver teased. 

"I'm all for modesty when it's called for, but it's not here. I'm just that good," Felicity said, sitting up straighter and grinning. She finished taking apart the tablet and began to repeat the process with her phone.

"Anyway, Mr. Steele - do you remember who Mr. Steele is?" she paused waiting for Oliver to nod that he did "wanted someone from IT to go test the new tablet Applied Sciences was developing while it was still in the manufacturing phase in Hong Kong. My supervisor recommended me for the trip, so here I am."

"But you don't know how you got from Hong Kong to here?" Oliver asked.

"No idea. Maybe I bumped my head?" Felicity suggested. 

"I'm sure it'll come back to you once you've rested some."

Felicity yawned, as if the mere mention of rest made her realize how tired she was; which was weird since she'd only been conscious for about an hour. "I sure hope so," she said through another yawn.

"Why don't you try to get some sleep," Oliver suggested, standing. "There's a pallet set up against that wall. I'll go see if any of my traps have anything for dinner."

She took the hand Oliver held out to her and followed him to the pallet. It didn't look very comfortable, but as exhausted as she was, she didn't really care. She toed off her shoes and allowed Oliver to help her lie down. She pulled her ponytail free and set her glasses on the ground.

She vaguely felt Oliver brush a hand over her hair as he said, "Rest well, Felicity."

"You too," she mumbled, smiling at the chuckle that moved away from her as she drifted off.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It was her stomach growling that woke her. She laid a hand over her belly as she became aware of the scent of something cooking. 

"Mmm, that smells heavenly," she said, sitting up and brushing a hand through her hair. She put her glasses and shoes back on and made her way to the fire and her bag.

"I hope you like bird," Oliver said, turning a spit with two small birds on it.

"What kind of bird?" Felicity asked.

"Not sure," Oliver admitted. "Does it matter?"

"I suppose not," Felicity said, pulling her make-up bag from her messenger bag. She had never been so glad that she used a plastic make-up bag when traveling as she was now. She unfolded her little travel brush and began to attack the snarls in her hair.

For many minutes the only sounds were Felicity's little grunts as she brushed her hair and the fire spitting as grease occasionally dripped into the flames. 

"So, what do you do here all day?" Felicity finally asked, breaking the silence. 

"What?" Oliver asked, startled. He'd been mesmerized by the methodical way that Felicity was brushing her hair. His fingers actually itched to run through her blonde hair. He'd never been the caretaker type, had never felt the desire to brush Laurel's hair, but suddenly he wanted nothing more than to take over for Felicity.

"What do you do here? I mean, it's not like you can go shopping or work or surf the web," Felicity pointed out. "How do you spend your days?"

Oliver shrugged. "I train, I hunt, I hike. Like you said, not much else to do."

"Train doing what?"

"I practice my archery skills and my fighting skills."

"But there's no one to fight with," Felicity observed. "Or is there?"

"There isn't. Not anymore," Oliver said, cryptically. "I go through fighting stances and practice against trees. I also run, a lot."

"What happened to the other people on the… is this an island?" Felicity asked with a final pass of the brush through her hair. She removed the hairband from around her wrist and pulled her hair back into a high ponytail.

"Yes, it's an island. The other people are gone. Dead," Oliver answered, tersely.

"Di-did you kill them?" she nervously asked. 

"Some of them," he admitted, looking pained. "I had to because they were trying to kill me."

"How long have you been alone?" Felicity asked, moving closer to him.

"Not sure. A few months maybe? I was in Hong Kong for a while before that. Until they dumped me back here."

"Who are they? Are they why everyone still thinks you're dead?"

"I can't tell you who they are. Some secret government organization. They kept me monitored at all times and prevented me from reaching out to my family. Once they had no more use for me they drugged me and left me back here." Despite promises of returning him home.

"You don't know who they were or you won't tell me?" Felicity pressed.

"I won't tell you. They're dangerous and the less you know about them the better," Oliver growled.

"Okay, okay," Felicity conceded, hands up in a backing off gesture. "Just making conversation."

"Sorry," Oliver said, wiping a hand over his face. "The last few years have been a little… stressful."

"It's fine, I get it. Well, I don't get it, but I can understand that there's probably been a lot of stuff going on that you never thought you'd have to do before."

"Like killing and preparing a bird for dinner," Oliver agreed. He pulled the spit from the fire and slid one of the birds onto a rudimentary plate. "Bon appétit."

"Thanks," Felicity said, gratefully. "I'm starving." She bit into the flesh and while it wasn't very flavorful, it was hot. And it was sustenance. And something she never wanted to have to prepare on her own.

Silence fell between them once again as they concentrated on eating.

As she ate, Felicity once again tried to remember how she came to be on this island. The harder she tried to remember, the more frustrated she became. 

She remembered getting up that morning - yesterday morning? - and going downstairs for breakfast. As she'd passed reception, the clerk had called her over to inform her that the company had arranged a private tour of some of the islands for her that day. Felicity had thought that she was going to be in the lab all day working on the new tablet, but didn't think too hard about the change in plans. A day out on the water sounded nice. 

Felicity dropped her plate on the ground as she let out a gasp. 

"What is it? What's wrong?" Oliver demanded, hurrying to her side. 

Felicity turned tear-filled eyes to him. "There was a last minute change to my schedule," she told him, choking back a sob. "Instead of going in to the lab, I was sent on a private boat tour of some islands."

Oliver frowned, his brow furrowing in concern. "What did the people on the boat look like?"

"I don't know. I still don't remember that part. I just remembered the woman in the hotel telling me of the schedule change," Felicity said. "Why did I go along with it?" she asked, panicked. "That wasn't what I was supposed to be doing that day. Why didn't I call anyone to confirm the plans? What was I thinking? What did the people in the lab think when I didn't show up?"

"Felicity, calm down before you have another panic attack," Oliver warned her. 

"Too late," she panted, breathing in shallow breaths.

She was so focused on trying to breathe that she didn't notice that Oliver had leaned closer until she felt his lips press against hers. Her eyes widened in surprise, but she kissed him back. 

Before long, and much sooner than Felicity would have liked, Oliver was pulling back out of the kiss.

"How do you feel now?" he quietly asked.

"You can shut me up like that anytime," she murmured, humming to herself. 

"Do you need shutting up often?" he asked, grinning.

Felicity coughed, not realizing she'd said that out loud. "Oh, um, yeah, I have a tendency to babble, if you hadn't noticed."

"I hadn't, but I'll keep that in mind," he promised, tracing a finger down her arm. 

Even through the long sleeved shirt she was wearing, his touch set her skin on fire. The cave suddenly seemed too warm and Felicity jumped to her feet. Tugging on the ends of her sleeves, she inched her way towards the opening. "I'm just going to go and get some air," she announced and practically tripped over her feet making her escape.

"Don't go too far," Oliver called after her.

"I won't," she called back as she collapsed against the cave entrance.

Felicity leaned her head back against the rock and closed her eyes. How had she gone from being the geeky IT girl to someone who could be kissed by Oliver Queen? She supposed that she wasn't the one who changed, just her circumstances. Oliver would have probably kissed any girl who washed ashore on his island of purgatory that was having a panic attack. It wasn't necessarily because he wanted to kiss _her_ , but because he wanted to distract her. And boy did it work.

When she opened her eyes again, she was surprised to see that the sun was still out. 

"Hey, Oliver," she called, "can you come out here?"

"What's up?" he asked as he emerged from the cave.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" Felicity asked, looking up.

He looked towards the sky. "I'm not sure, but the sun should be setting soon."

"Is there somewhere we can go to watch it?" she asked.

"Maybe tomorrow," he suggested. "I think you should rest some more before attempting the hike we'll need to go on to reach a good spot where the trees won't be in the way."

"Oh, okay." Felicity tried not to sound too disappointed. "What do you usually do after dark?"

"Sleep, mostly," Oliver answered. "Not much else to do. Sometimes I read for a while, but I usually turn in before long."

"You have books?" Felicity perked up. "Mine are all on my Nook, which is back at my hotel."

"Some," Oliver confirmed. "I have a few different places to crash around the island and keep a couple at each."

"How did you come to have so many? I assume they didn't get here the same way you did."

"Uh, no. There was a military base on the island when I first arrived. It's since been, um, abandoned, but some of their possessions were left behind. They're the ones who had the SAT phones and radios. Once it was clear they weren't coming back, I went through what was left behind and distributed it around the island."

"Is that where these clothes came from?" Felicity asked, plucking at her shirt.

Oliver couldn't meet her eyes when he said, "Yes." It wasn't entirely a lie. They were Shado's and she had come to them from the base.

"Which is your favorite?" Felicity asked, pulling Oliver out of his memories.

"The Odyssey," Oliver immediately answered. "It's one of the few books I read in college and it saved my life here on the island. Besides, it's about a man trying to get home. I feel like Odysseus is kind of a kindred spirit."

"Do you have that one here?" Felicity asked, nodding towards the interior of the cave.

"As a matter of fact, I do."

"Would you read it to me?"

"You don't want to just read it yourself?" he asked. He'd never been that comfortable reading aloud.

"It's your favorite. We should both get to enjoy it," Felicity offered, ducking back inside. Instead of sitting by the fire, she went over to the pallet she'd slept on earlier and sat down. 

Oliver followed her inside, marveling at this girl's thoughtfulness. 

He went to an alcove Felicity hadn't noticed before and returned with a book in his hands. He sat near the fire, on the side nearest to Felicity. 

She adjusted her ponytail so it was at the base of her neck, removed her glasses, and then lay on her side, facing Oliver. She watched him as he began to read.

"'Tell me, O muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy...'"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter ended with quote from _The Odyssey_ by Homer.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The taxi dropped Felicity off at the marina and she thanked the driver as best she could in her guide book Chinese. She looked at the piece of paper in her hand that the hotel clerk had given her with the boat name and slip number on it. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to find it given her complete lack of understanding of Chinese. 

As she wandered down the rows of piers, she saw a woman with long white hair. She'd never seen such a young woman with such white hair, let alone a Chinese woman with white hair. She tried to look away when the woman looked in her direction, but then she called her by name.

"Ms. Smoak?" she queried. 

"Yes, that's me. Are you the one taking me on the tour?"

"Yes, I'm the one taking you out," the woman virtually purred. "Right this way."

Felicity clutched her bag and followed the woman down the pier and onto a small luxury boat. There was something about this woman that put her teeth on edge, and it wasn't just her creepy hair. But since she couldn't put her finger on her discomfort, Felicity followed. 

There were two men on the boat and they set off as soon as they were settled in the cabin. 

"Oh, no one else is on the tour?" Felicity observed, having assumed this was a formal tour.

"Did the note not say that it was a private tour?" the woman asked.

"It did, but I thought that just meant it was just me from my company. Not that there wouldn't be anyone else, period."

"This should be more enjoyable," the woman insisted. "No annoying tourists to distract us."

"I'm a tourist," Felicity pointed out. "Well, not really, but I'm certainly not a local."

"But you are in town for business, not sightseeing."

"I'm hoping to do some of both," Felicity countered. "That's why I'm here now, right?"

"Right," the woman agreed, settling back in her seat. "Why don't you go up on deck and watch the scenery."

Felicity did as suggested and went to sit on the deck. She pulled her cardigan close around her, glad she'd thought to bring it as it was much cooler out on the water, with the wind and spray. The boat seemed to be moving pretty quickly and it felt like in no time at all they were out in open water.

This was the strangest tour that she had ever been on, Felicity thought. There was no one there telling her what she was seeing. She was practically alone out here. Just her and her thoughts and the crew. And that woman. Felicity shuddered.

She noticed the boat seemed to be slowing and then it stopped. She looked around, but there was nothing to see. She could barely even see Hong Kong from here, let alone any islands. 

She was just about to go ask that woman what was going on when she emerged from below deck. 

"What's going on? Why are we stopped?" Felicity asked, butterflies swarming in her stomach that had nothing to do with seasickness.

"Give me the tablet," the woman demanded.

"I'm sorry, what?" Why did this woman want her tablet?

"The new tablet Queen Consolidated Applied Sciences is developing," she clarified. "Give it to me." 

This time her demand was punctuated by a knife dropping out from the palm of her hand.

Felicity clutched her bag to her chest. She knew the safest thing to do would be to hand it over, but if there was something on the tablet that this scary woman wanted, it probably wasn't a good thing, and she wasn't about to give it up if it was something bad.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that," Felicity said.

The men came out from wherever they'd been hiding and took flanking positions behind the woman.

"I don't want to hurt you, but I need that tablet," the woman repeated. "Hand it over."

"No," Felicity defiantly countered. "I don't know what you need _my_ tablet for, but if you feel like you have to take it by force then I don't think you should have it. Take me back. Now. Please."

"Isn't that cute, she's trying to do the right thing," the woman sneered. "If you won't play nice…" She turned to the men behind her, "Take it from her."

Felicity looked around, desperate for somewhere to run to. Somewhere to hide. But there was nothing. 

Nothing but water.

"Thank you swimming requirement in high school," she thought to herself as she threw the strap of her messenger bag across her body, pulled it tight and dove into the water as one of the men made a grab for her.

Felicity surfaced and immediately began to swim. She didn't know where she was going, but she had to get away from that boat.

The sound of a bullet whizzed past her ear and she looked back to see the woman aiming a gun at her. 

Taking a deep breath, Felicity ducked under the water, swimming as hard as she could, trying to gain some distance. 

Except then she heard the boat's engine roar back to life.

She surfaced just long enough to take another deep breath of air and dove again. She saw the boat coming near her, but was able to move out of its path. Somehow she managed to avoid being seen each time she surfaced for air until she was left alone in the ocean, miles from land.

"No," she cried out, realizing she was probably going to die out there in the water.

"No," she cried out again, flailing around as she began to cry.

Words began to break through to her.

"Hey, you're okay. You're safe," Oliver said, trying to pin her arms. 

Felicity sat up, sobbing. "Oliver?"

"Shush, I'm here," he said, pulling her into his arms. 

Felicity cried, clinging to his solid presence. "I remember," she sobbed. "I remember what happened."

"Shush, it's over now. Take deep breaths, you're safe now," he said, stroking her hair.

"Safe?" Felicity wailed, pushing back from him. "I'm trapped on some island in the middle of nowhere with no way to get home. How is that safe?"

Oliver winced. "Okay, maybe safe wasn't the right word. I just meant that whatever had happened is over."

"What if they're still looking for me?" Felicity asked. "I wasn't randomly targeted. She needed something from me, specifically. That's why she took me away from civilization to get it from me."

"Get what?" Oliver asked; his senses on high alert after working for A.R.G.U.S. for the past year. Dread filled him. "Who is she?"

"I don't know who she was. Some Chinese woman with long white hair. She didn't introduce herself, come to think of it. Oliver, what's wrong?"

Oliver had gone pale and sat back from his kneeling position, hard.

"Chien Na Wei," he whispered. "Her name is Chien Na Wei and she is bad news. What did she want from you?"

"My tablet. The new one from QC that I was here to work on. She needed mine for some reason. I've only had it for a day so I haven't had time to play around with it much yet, so I have no idea what could be on it that she wants. I just knew that if someone was willing to kill me for it, it couldn't be anything good and I shouldn't give it to her."

"Your instincts were correct. Always listen to them," Oliver said. "She's an assassin for the Triad."

"Am I supposed to know what that means?" Felicity asked, confused.

"I'm very glad that you don't. The Triad is the largest criminal organization in China."

"How do you know about them? About her?"

"The people who had me in Hong Kong were trying to take down Chien Na Wei. Several months ago I was part of a team that captured her, but she must have escaped," Oliver admitted. "I'm sorry."

"What do you have to be sorry for?" Felicity asked.

"If they had been able to keep her locked up then she wouldn't have been able to go after you," Oliver said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. He'd failed to successfully remove this threat and now Felicity was suffering for it.

Felicity scooted close to Oliver, resting a hand on his knee. "If my tablet is as important as she seems to think it is, then they would have sent someone else after me instead."

As much as the thought of that chilled her to the bones, she knew it was true. She didn't want Oliver to beat himself up over something that would have happened one way or the other. 

"Maybe," he conceded. "You should probably try to get some more rest."

"I don't know if I'll be able to fall back to sleep after that."

Oliver nodded his head in understanding. He was about to return to his spot in front of the fire when Felicity increased the pressure on his knee to prevent him from getting up.

"Would you mind holding me?" she shyly asked. "At least until I fall asleep again?"

"Of course," Oliver said, motioning for her to move over. 

Felicity turned on her side, facing the wall and Oliver crawled onto the pallet behind her, covering them both with the blanket. He curled one arm under his head and tentatively placed his other hand around her waist.

"Is this okay?" he asked, his breath caressing her neck.

"Mm-hm," Felicity agreed, trying to calm her racing heart, wondering why she thought this might be a good idea. "Good night, Oliver."

"Good night, Felicity. Sweet dreams."

She had a feeling that with him so close, they would be.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

There were fingers running through her hair. 

That was the first thing Felicity noticed as she began to wake up. 

The second thing she noticed was that she was pressed up against a very warm, very male body and her head was pillowed on his chest. 

She sighed in contentment, feeling warm and safe. 

At least until her brain remembered where she was and how she'd come to be there. 

Felicity sat up suddenly, startling Oliver. 

"Good morning," he greeted her. 

"'Morning," Felicity acknowledged. "Sorry, I didn't mean to end up using you for a pillow."

"I didn't mind," Oliver said, sitting up himself. 

"You, um, wouldn't happen to have a little girl's bush tucked away somewhere, would you?" Felicity nervously asked. "And I assume a shower would be too much to hope for?"

Oliver forced himself not to laugh at how adorable she was to ask. He thought about it and as much as he hated the place, he knew where he had to take her.

"That military camp I mentioned had some showers and outhouses. We can go there, if you think you can wait," he offered.

"How long will it take to get there?"

"An hour, maybe," Oliver said. 

Felicity thought about it. She wasn't sure if she could wait that long, but an outhouse sounded much better than squatting in the woods.

"Okay, let's go there. What about my stuff?" she asked. She found her glasses and slipped them on as she got up.

"Your call. We can either leave it here or move on to a different site tonight."

She didn't really want to move the tablet and phone while they were disassembled, but if she could be near some semblance of a bathroom, she'd do it. "Couldn't we just stay in the camp?"

Oliver clenched his jaw. That camp meant nothing but pain and death to him. He generally avoided it as much as possible. 

One glance at the hopeful look on Felicity's face told him he'd be spending more time there than he ever imagined.

"Fine," he bit out. "Pack up all your stuff and bring it with us."

"Can you bring The Odyssey too?" she asked, hoping she wasn't pushing him too far. She could see that he wasn't happy with the idea of staying in this camp for some reason. Did he have something against the military? "I know it's one of the books you read here, but I'd like us to continue reading it."

"You fell asleep after the first part," Oliver pointed out.

"Maybe so, but I still liked hearing you read it to me."

"Alright, we'll bring the book, too," Oliver agreed.

Felicity hurried over to where she had her tech dismantled and tried to figure out the best way to transport them. They really should have a least another day of drying out before she reassembled them.

Turning to Oliver, she asked, "I suppose it's too much to hope for a couple of Ziplock bags?"

"Fresh out," Oliver responded.

"I figured," Felicity sighed. "All right then." She carefully began to gather the components and set them back inside the casings and then folded both the phone and tablet securely into the towel. Once she was satisfied with her packaging, she slipped the bundle into her bag. She grabbed her dress and sweater from where they had been drying; frowning at how stiff they were from the salt water.

"I suppose laundry facilities are too much to hope for too?" she asked, holding the dress awkwardly away from her.

"Machines, yes. But there's soap and wash basins at the camp. They'll have to air dry again, but it'll be better than what you've got there."

"A man who can cook and do laundry," Felicity commented, "be still my heart."

Picking up his bow and quiver, Oliver asked, "You ready?"

"Lead on," Felicity said with one last look around the cave. She hoped the camp would be a little more comfortable, even if this place had been pretty cozy.

Felicity stumbled along behind Oliver, keeping an eye out for landmines for what felt like much more than an hour, but that was probably because she wasn't used to trekking through the woods like this. She preferred her exercise in a nice, well-lit, landmine-free gym. 

They didn't talk much on the long walk, Oliver on high alert, although she didn't know for what if they were alone.

"Are there dangerous animals here or something?" she finally asked him.

"No, why would you think that?"

"Well, you're like, super-vigilant right now. Like you're expecting to be attacked at any moment. I wanted to know what you thought could attack us."

Oliver tried to force himself to relax, but his reflexes had a mind of their own. "Old habit," he apologized. "There's nothing that can harm us, now."

"But there used to be?" Felicity pressed.

"Yeah. The military base we're going to, they hunted me and my friends my first year on this island. I guess I got used to always being on the lookout for an attack from them."

"Wait a minute, we're going to the base of people who _hunted_ you?" Felicity exclaimed.

"You can understand my reluctance to go there, now," Oliver replied. 

"Then why are we going there?" 

"Because you wanted a bathroom and a shower and to do laundry," Oliver huffed. "Unfortunately, the base is the only place on the island with things for that."

"But, it has bad memories for you," Felicity said, knowingly.

"It does," Oliver agreed. "Look, I've gotten used to roughing it, but I'm sure it would be harder for you. No offense. I can deal with being there for a while if it'll make being here easier for you."

"So, you'll stay with me?" Felicity asked, embarrassed by how relieved she was that he would.

"I'm certainly not going to leave you to fend for yourself. Even without any other people here, this is a dangerous place."

"Thank you." No sooner than the words were uttered, they came into a clearing with the remains of the base laid out before them. "Oh, thank you!" Felicity groaned as she saw what was clearly the outhouse and began to run for it.

Oliver continued walking, slowing his pace, knowing he'd have to wait for her anyway. His eyes scanned over the remains of the base. He hadn't been here since he'd been back on the island. It looked much the same as it had the last time he'd been here. Some of the tents were still standing, including the one that had belonged to Fyers. 

He found himself standing at the opening to Fyers' tent, remembering the last time he'd been here. He could see Yao Fei standing there in his military uniform spewing the lies Fyers had fed him before he fell from a bullet between the eyes. Oliver felt the rage he'd felt then, the helplessness. 

Would he have been able to stop it if all that had happened now? He was stronger now; a better fighter. Could he have gotten out of his bindings and stopped Fyers from killing the first friend he'd made here? His first mentor. Shado's father. 

He supposed it didn't matter. It was the past and he couldn't go back and fix it.

He was pulled out of his memories by Felicity popping up behind him. 

"Is this where we're staying?" she asked, trying to see over his shoulder.

"No," Oliver snapped. "Not this tent. I c-can't… No." He took a deep breath and turned around. Something in his eyes must have conveyed his struggles because Felicity didn't ask why. "Any other tent should be fine."

Without a word, Felicity turned and started to examine the other tents that were still intact. She found one with a cot, blanket, footlocker and table. She supposed it wouldn't get homier than this.

"Found one," she called out, poking her head out the flap to see where Oliver had got to.

"I'm over here," he said from the other side of the tent, so she looked out the flap on that side. 

"Oh good, you found one nearby," Felicity said. She was glad that he wouldn't be too far away if she had another nightmare. Another bad memory. "Come on in," she offered, heading back inside her tent.

Once Oliver had joined her, Felicity began to unwrap the tablet and phone on the table. She separated everything out again to continue to dry. "After I finish this, I'd really love to find that shower and wash my dress." She spun to face him. "Are there any provisions here? Like, food?"

"I can show you where the shower is and how to operate it. Although I'm not sure if you'll be able to find a clean towel. Maybe we should do some scavenging first, then laundry, and if we find anything to eat along the way, we can do that. You can shower once the towels are dry, if we find any."

"Sounds like a plan," Felicity agreed. "We can start in here."

She crossed to the foot locker and opened it. It was empty.

"Or, we can start with yours," she suggested, gesturing for Oliver to go to his tent.

There was nothing of interest in his tent either. "I doubt we're going to find much of anything around here," he said. "We went through this stuff pretty thoroughly and removed most of the useful stuff already."

"Even the food?" Felicity asked, forlornly.

"Especially the food," Oliver confirmed. 

"Well then, where do you keep most of your food stores? I'm guessing you don't just eat things you've killed."

"I mainly live in this cargo plane fuselage that crashed here several years ago. It's on the north end of the island," Oliver admitted. "I never come here and the other dens are for if I get caught out after dark."

"Oh," Felicity sounded disappointed. "It was silly of me to think there would be all this stuff still here for us to use."

"There was, it's just been a few years since this place was abandoned and we've pretty much picked it clean."

Felicity sank onto the cot, resting her face in her hands. "I don't know what I'm doing here," she moaned.

"You're stranded, just like me," Oliver said, coming to sit next to her. "It took me a long time to get used to life on this island. A very long time." He chuckled to himself. "You should have seen me the first time I had to kill a bird for my dinner. I was pathetic. I had never killed anything in my life but I learned that survival was most important. So I adapted."

Felicity turned to face him, tears wetting her eyes but refusing to fall. "I don't want to learn these things. I want to go back to my nice comfortable apartment and my nice comfortable IT job. I don't want to have to learn how to survive on less than nothing."

"Neither did I," Oliver said, no censure in his voice. "What choice is there, though?"

Slapping his thighs, Oliver stood. "C'mon, let's go check out the mess tent. Maybe there's something there we missed before."

"You think there will be anything there?" Felicity asked, hopefully.

"Only one way to know for sure."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

They found some packets to make soup as well as a carton of power bars. 

"I wonder how these were overlooked," Felicity commented as she tore into a power bar.

"Slade probably thought they tasted like cardboard and left them on purpose. There are some things even a hungry man won't eat."

"Slade was your friend?"

"Yeah," Oliver sadly agreed. "He's the one who taught me how to fight...how to really survive here. I couldn't bring myself to come back to this camp, so he always made scavenger runs with Shado. She taught me how to shoot an arrow."

"You must miss them."

"You have no idea how much." Oliver gave her a watery smile before changing the subject. "Well, since this wasn't as fruitless as I'd thought, I guess we should check out the other tents after all."

They found some extra clothes, extra blankets, several flashlights, a couple of towels, some paper and pencils, and lots of weapons. 

"I'm surprised your friend left so many of the weapons here," Felicity said, standing back as Oliver inspected one of them. 

"We had a few around, but I guess Slade figured he could always come back for more if he needed them. He preferred his swords, anyway."

"Do you know how to use that thing?"

"Point and shoot," Oliver said. "I'm not a great shot, but I can sometimes hit something. I'm better with the bow."

"Interesting choice of weapon," Felicity commented. "I wouldn't have thought it was the most efficient weapon."

"Well, for one thing, it's much quieter than a gun, and stealth was usually needed with the people we were hiding from."

"These people?" Felicity gestured around them.

"Them, and later others," Oliver agreed. "Trouble had a way of finding us no matter what. There was very little quiet time, and when there was, Slade and Shado were training me to become a better fighter."

"For the record, I do not want to learn how to fight," Felicity said. 

"Noted," Oliver agreed. "Not that I think you'll need to know."

"Unless those Triad people track me down," Felicity pointed out.

"Hey," Oliver said, coming to stand before her, "I won't let them hurt you."

"Thank you." The air crackled between them for a moment before Felicity turned away. "You said something about wash basins for laundry?"

Oliver took a deep breath, taking a step back. He ran a hand through his hair in an attempt to tamp down his suddenly raging libido. "Yeah. Come on."

He grabbed some of the extra clothes they'd found along with a couple of towels and followed Felicity to her tent to get the clothes she'd arrived in. 

When he led them away from the camp, Felicity had to ask, "Where are we going?"

"Wash basins are by the river. It's not that far. They probably figured it was easier to just bring their clothes to the water than to cart it back to the camp for washing."

"But what about the showers?" Felicity asked. "Do we need to bring water back for that?"

"No. I think they must have tapped into a well or something where the showers are," Oliver said. 

"What about…"

"I don't know, Felicity," Oliver said, cutting her off. "I didn't make the camp and I didn't live there. I don't know why these things are the way they are."

"Sorry."

"It's okay."

"I've just always been naturally curious," Felicity said.

"It's fine. Really," Oliver said. "Here we are."

He passed through an opening in the trees and they found themselves beside a rushing river.

"Wow," Felicity said, stunned by the beauty before her. "Okay, I get bringing the laundry to the water now."

Near the edge of the trees were a couple of metal basins with washboards and bars of soap inside. Oliver handed one set to Felicity and grabbed the other for himself and they carried them to the water. They carefully filled the basins and began washing their clothes.

After taking a few minutes to get the hang of using the washboard, Felicity laughed and said, "I feel like I'm back in Colonial times. You know, like in those re-enactment villages?"

Oliver chuckled. "I've never been, but I know what you mean. Being here is often like going back in time; especially with the lack of technology and electricity."

"Don't remind me," Felicity whimpered.

It didn't take them long to wash the few things they'd brought, and get them back to the camp and hung up to dry.

With that chore out of the way, they were left with nothing to do since they couldn't shower until the towels were dry.

"Now what?" Felicity asked.

Oliver glanced at the sky, thoughtfully. "Do you still want to watch the sunset?"

"I'd love to," Felicity exclaimed. "But isn't it just past midday?"

"It's going to take us a while to get to the spot I'm thinking about," Oliver said. "I want to go slowly since you're not used to hiking on mountains."

Felicity was going to take offense, but realized he was right. "Fair point."

"Why don't you grab a couple of those power bars and flashlights and bring them with us in your bag," Oliver suggested.

"Good idea," she agreed. It didn't take her long to find the items and after emptying out her bag, she put them, The Odyssey, and one of the non-washed towels they'd found, into her bag.

She met Oliver between their tents and saw that he was carrying a canteen and was once again wearing his quiver and carrying his bow.

"What's that for? Expecting trouble?"

"Always." He waited a beat. "It's in case we see anything worth hunting for dinner."

Felicity put a hand on her chest. "Oh, thank goodness."

Oliver hoped he was telling the truth. That the only thing he'd need to shoot was a rabbit or bird. He had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that the Triad was still looking for Felicity Smoak.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It was a long hike. A very long hike. Felicity was wondering why she had agreed to do this when they crested a hill and the island dropped away beneath them.

"Wow," Felicity said between panted breaths. "This is…"

"Worth it?" Oliver grinned, knowingly.

"So worth it."

Oliver took a sip from the canteen and passed it to Felicity. She drank gratefully, but sparingly, knowing it was all they had until they got back to the camp.

"How did you find this place?"

"I've had a lot of time to explore," Oliver said, setting the bow and quiver down against a boulder, along with the rabbit he'd found in one of his traps along the way.

Felicity looked over her shoulder at him, saddened to think that he'd been stranded here for so long.

"I brought The Odyssey," she offered. "I could read it while you take care of that." She gestured to the dead rabbit. If she was reading she wouldn't have to watch him prepare the animal to eat. While she'd always been a carnivore, she'd never had to see her meat go from furry animal to delicious meat before.

"I promise not to fall asleep on you," Oliver said by way of agreement.

"Ha ha," Felicity dryly commented. She removed the towel from her bag and spread it so she could lean against a boulder; she settled down and pulled out the book. 

It took her a while to get used to the poetic phrasing of the book, but soon she was lost in the rhythm of the words and the story.

Oliver set to work skinning the rabbit with the knife he kept at his hip. There was a time he was as repulsed by this activity as Felicity, but with repetition, he'd gotten used to it. Now skinning rabbits was one more skill he could add to his "I survived on an island" resume. He set the skin aside to dry in case Felicity wanted to keep it. The fur was soft, after all. 

"Keep reading," he interrupted her at one point, "I'm going to gather some wood for a fire, but I won't be far."

Felicity nodded and continued, raising her voice as Oliver moved away.

As she read aloud, a foreign noise seemed to grow on the edge of her awareness. It wasn't the birds that she'd been hearing all day, either. She closed her eyes and cocked her head to the side, listening.

"Why'd you stop?" Oliver asked, hurrying back, his arms laden with downed tree branches. 

"Do you hear that?" Felicity asked; eyes still closed. "It almost sounds like a motor," she said dreamily. "That's silly, though. There are no motors here."

Immediately on alert, Oliver tensed and began to look out over the water. He concentrated on listening, just as Felicity had. His stomach dropped as he pointed to a spec on the water. "There."

Felicity scrambled to her feet, looking in the direction that Oliver was pointing. "Do you think it's a rescue party?" she asked hopefully, grabbing his arm.

Oliver turned to look at her, sadness written across his face. Solemnly he said, "No, I don't think they're here to rescue you."

"The Triad."

"That would be my guess," Oliver said. "Pack up your stuff, we're moving."

Felicity hustled to do as he suggested, shoving the book and towel back in her bag. Oliver was waiting for her, weapons in hand.

"What about the rabbit?" she asked.

"Leave it," Oliver said. "If we survive, we can come back for it if you want. If we don't, it won't matter."

Felicity gulped, but didn't ask any more questions.

Oliver led her quickly and quietly down the mountain towards the beach she'd washed ashore on. It was the most likely spot for the boat to pull in to, as well.

Oliver reached under the back of his shirt and pulled out a revolver when they reached the tree line, which he handed to Felicity.

She held her hands up, "I don't like guns."

"I don't care. Take it," he ordered.

She did. It was heavier than she'd thought it would be. 

"Hold it with two hands, like this," he took it back to show her. "When they land I'll take the safety off. Then just point and pull the trigger. Try to aim for their chests."

"I don't want to kill anyone," Felicity insisted, on the verge of tears.

"I know you don't. I don't want you to kill anyone either," Oliver said, softly. "But if it comes down to them or us, I choose us."

"I choose us, too," Felicity agreed, liking the sound of us referring to the two of them.

The boat was closer now.

"Hey, Oliver," Felicity tentatively said, looking away from the approaching danger.

"Yeah?" he distractedly answered.

Gathering her nerve, Felicity reached up and pulled Oliver's face to hers and kissed him.

"For luck," she said, cheekily when they broke apart. She had never felt so much like Kaylee from _Firefly_ as she did at that moment. "To hell with this. I'm gonna live."

Oliver blinked at her owlishly a few times before grinning. They were definitely going to have to survive this.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Once the boat was a few hundred feet from shore, Felicity recognized it as the boat she'd gone out on with Chien Na Wei. She whispered this information in Oliver's ear, which he acknowledged with a nod.

Her heart felt like it was in her throat and she could barely hear anything above the rushing of blood in her ears. As panic started to rise, she closed her eyes and forced herself to take deep breaths. 

When she opened her eyes again, Chien Na Wei and the two henchmen - she was now calling them Jasper and Horace in her head - were in a lifeboat coming towards shore.

A glance to her side showed Oliver standing ready, arrow nocked and focused on Chien Na Wei.

She looked down at the gun in her hands, safety now off, and prayed that she wouldn't have to use it.

Chien Na Wei stepped onto the sand first, gun down but in hand. She spoke in Chinese to the men. While Jasper pulled the raft all the way onto the shore, Horace ran farther down the beach, away from them, but towards the woods at the same time. Jasper did the same in the opposite direction once the raft was secure.

Oliver tracked the first man with his arrow and let loose before the trees blocked his target. Horace went down, an arrow in his chest.

"Come out, now," Chien Na Wei called out in English, "and we won't kill you."

Jasper cried out as he fell, downed by another of Oliver's arrows. 

"You should have brought more men," Oliver called back.

Chien Na Wei stopped in her tracks when she heard him speak. 

"I know that voice," she commented. 

"You know the face, too," Oliver agreed, stepping into view.

"No, what are you doing?" Felicity whispered, trying to grab his leg before he moved away. 

He ignored her, moving closer to Chien Na Wei.

"I see A.R.G.U.S. has no more use of you," she taunted.

Oliver shrugged. "It was a crappy job. How did you escape from them?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" she asked with a smirking grin. She dropped into a fighting stance and demanded, "Give me the girl."

"Over my dead body," Oliver replied.

"As you wish."

A shot rang out, which Oliver ducked. He smoothly launched an arrow, which was also ducked. 

Chien Na Wei dropped the gun and charged Oliver. He kicked out, but she was too close and his foot barely grazed her hip. She landed a punch to his face before kicking his feet out from under him.

Oliver went down hard, but rolled as he landed; avoiding the foot she tried to kick him with, and pulling his knife as he rose to his feet. 

Chien Na Wei also had a knife out by now and they traded slashes, neither succeeding until Oliver caught her forearm. She hissed, and renewed her attack. 

Felicity watched, paralyzed. She held the gun up in front of her, but was too afraid to use it. The fight was too fast and she didn't want to hit Oliver by mistake.

Chien Na Wei got Oliver on his back, his knife having already fallen, and kneeled on his chest. She held her knife to his throat.

"Tell me where to find the girl or I'll slit your throat."

Before Oliver could respond, Felicity stepped out, her hands in the air. 

"Please, don't hurt him," Felicity begged. "I'm right here."

She grinned up at Felicity. "You've been more trouble than you're worth. Give me the tablet."

"I don't have it," Felicity said, wincing.

"What?" the other woman growled, pressing the knife hard enough against Oliver that he began to bleed.

"When I jumped in the water, I lost it. It must have fallen out of my bag while I was unconscious. I lost everything in my bag," Felicity said.

"I don't believe you," Chien Na Wei said.

Felicity slowly moved to lift the strap of her bag over her head and tossed it to the white-haired woman.

"See for yourself," Felicity offered, winking at Oliver.

She caught the bag with one hand and placed it on Oliver's chest. Once she was distracted, Felicity grabbed the gun from the back of her pants, swung it around and fired. 

She missed, but the sound of the shot was enough to startle the other woman, giving Oliver the opportunity to twist out from under her. He punched Chien Na Wei hard, knocking her out. He kicked the knife out of her hand as he stood and ran to Felicity.

"That was incredible," he said, cupping her face with his hands. He kissed her, unable to stop himself. 

"I was so scared," Felicity said when they parted. "I knew I had to do something, and then I remembered that I had taken everything out of my bag that was mine back at the camp so even if she had gone through it all she wouldn't have found what she was looking for."

"Felicity, you're remarkable," Oliver said, grinning.

"Thank you for remarking on it." She grinned back. Looking out at the beach, she asked, "Are they all dead?"

"She's not," Oliver said. "Not sure about the others yet."

He pulled some zip ties from one of the many pockets on his cargo pants and cautiously approached Chien Na Wei. Luckily she was still out cold. He was able to maneuver her so that he could tie her arms behind her back and then tied her feet together.

"You wait here while I check on the other two," Oliver suggested.

"Sounds good to me," Felicity agreed. She picked up her bag, replaced the book that had been tossed aside, and slung it over her body.

She watched as Oliver tied up Jasper, which meant that he was still alive. Horace wasn't so lucky.

When Oliver came back to her, she asked, "Does this mean it's over?"

Oliver had tears in his eyes when he said, "It's over. It's really over. We're going home." He looked out at the boat.

"You're going home," Felicity squealed, jumping into his arms.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

They practically ran back to the camp, eager to collect Felicity's belongings and get off the island.

"I need you to wait here for a little while," Oliver told her once they reached the camp.

"Alone? Why?" Felicity asked.

"I need to get some things from the plane," Oliver said.

"Oh, right, you didn't actually live on this part of the island," Felicity said.

"Right. I may not have much in the way of belongings, but there are a few things I want to take home with me."

"It's fine. I think my dress is mostly dry by now anyway, so I may as well leave wearing what I arrived in."

"I should only be a few hours," Oliver promised. "Will you be okay?"

"I'll be fine," Felicity said, waving him off.

Oliver ran off in the direction she assumed the plane was in, leaving her alone in the abandoned camp.

She tested her clothes first, and decided to give them a little more time since Oliver had said 'hours'. 

Instead, she sat at the table with her disassembled tablet and phone and began to reassemble them. She was very curious about what exactly was on this tablet that had nearly gotten her killed, twice.

Felicity had barely gotten her dress over her head when she heard footsteps approaching. She quickly yanked it down, spinning so she was facing the direction she thought the person was coming from.

"I'm armed," she called out, frantically looking around for the gun.

"No you're not," Oliver called back, stepping into her tent.

She let out a squeak and reached behind her, trying to hold her dress closed. "Don't look," she squealed.

"You're just getting changed now?" Oliver asked, turning away from her.

"I got distracted," Felicity huffed, struggling to pull the zip up on the dress. "Ugh, I think the salt water warped the zipper."

"Want some help?" Oliver offered.

"Fine," she sighed.

Oliver turned and moved behind her. He grasped the zipper in one hand and held the material closed with the other, doing his best to ignore the smooth expanse of her back. He easily slid the zipper up, resting his hands on her shoulders when he was done.

"Ready?" he asked, his mouth near her ear, sending a shiver down her spine.

"Almost as much as you," she said.

Felicity grabbed her sweater and her re-packed bag and headed out of her tent. There was a large wood box sitting out there, which Oliver picked up.

"When you said you had some stuff to pick up, I was expecting a backpack, not a trunk."

"At least you don't have to carry it," Oliver pointed out.

"Very true. Let's get out of here."

The walk back to the beach felt like it took forever. Their attackers were right where they had left them, only now awake.

"We'll keep coming after it," Chien Na Wei called out as they placed their belongings in the raft and pushed it into the water. "When you make it back and tell them what we were after they won't destroy it. We'll get it one way or another."

"Not if I can help it," Felicity called back. "I will personally destroy whatever it is that you're after. Thanks for the ride."

Oliver steered the raft to the boat and got it secure before helping Felicity onto it. He passed her his trunk before following it onto the boat. It came to life easily and he turned it away from the place he'd spent the worst years of his life.

"So, uh, any idea which direction Hong Kong is?" Oliver asked a few minutes later.

Felicity laughed, coming to stand by him. She looked over the instruments before pointing at one. "I'm pretty sure that's for navigation. I thought you were good on boats."

"I was good at riding on boats. We always had a captain and crew for driving and navigating," Oliver pointed out. 

"How is your Chinese? Maybe there's a way to get reverse directions?"

"Not great, but let me see what I can make out. I think I'll recognize Hong Kong."

In fact, he did, and between the two of them they were able to get the boat pointed in the right direction.

"What will you do first when we get to shore?" Felicity asked.

"Call my mom," Oliver said without hesitation. 

"You can call from my hotel," Felicity offered. "I'm sure the company won't mind the international phone bill considering it's your company. You can even spend the night with me." Felicity winced at how that came out.

"I don't want to impose," Oliver said, his mind already imagining sharing a bed with Felicity. 

"It's no imposition. There are two beds," she explained. Even though she'd much prefer to share one. "Besides, I've gotten kind of used to having you around."

"I'd be happy to," Oliver agreed.

Felicity beamed up at him. "And just think - it has a real shower and food you don't have to catch yourself."

"We never did get you that shower on the island," Oliver realized.

"It's okay. This will be so much better."

Oliver's mind immediately envisioned her naked in the shower. He had to bite back a groan.

He could hardly believe that he was headed back to civilization, with no bodyguard; no one watching his every move. He was going home.

"I'm going to see if there's any food in the cabin," Felicity said, heading below deck.

Oliver stared at the horizon, trying to remember what his life had been like before the island, and if he even wanted that life anymore. 

"Score!" she called out a few minutes later. She emerged carrying some packages of cookies and a couple bottles of water. She handed half of her bounty to Oliver and dug in.

"Thanks," he absently said.

"Penny for them?" 

"Hmm?"

"Your thoughts," Felicity clarified. "You looked lost in thought."

"I was." Oliver sighed. "I was thinking about who I was before the island. I don't think I want to be that boy anymore. I can't be him again. Too much has happened. Laurel... My dad…"

His hand fell to the pocket that hid his father's notebook.

"Who's Laurel?" Felicity asked, vaguely recalling that name in association with Oliver's.

"She was my girlfriend," he said, wistfully.

"Do you think she will be when you get back?" She forced herself to ask.

"I don't know. No, I don't think she will," Oliver admitted. He pulled out his father's notebook and removed the photo of Laurel that was tucked inside. When he spoke again, it was mostly to himself. "When I first washed up on Lian Yu, I spent hours looking at this photo every day. All that I wanted was to get home to her; to make things right." He gave a bitter laugh. "I was so naive. I actually believed that she'd be so grateful that I was alive that she'd forget that I'd taken her sister with me on that boat. That I'd killed her sister."

Felicity gasped and he looked up at her with moist eyes. "You didn't kill her, Oliver."

"I may as well have. She never would have been on that boat if it wasn't for me; if I hadn't been such a coward."

"You're not…"

"I was," Oliver cut her off. "Things were getting serious with Laurel. She wanted to move in together. So what did I do? Instead of talking to her about my reservations I found the first available woman I could to sleep with. It just happened to be her baby sister. What kind of a man does that?"

Felicity had nothing to say to that. She wasn't going to lie and say that it was okay because he was scared. He was right; a good man didn't act like that. However, the fact that he felt such remorse, such revulsion, towards his former behavior showed that he was no longer that insensitive boy.

In lieu of saying anything, she moved to stand next to Oliver and wrapped an arm around his waist. He stood stiffly for a minute before letting out a shuddering breath and wrapping an arm around her shoulder. 

Nodding to the left, he whispered, "Looks like you'll get your sunset after all."

Sure enough, the sun was beginning to head towards the horizon, just as the city began to rise up before them.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

It was dark by the time they had pulled into the harbor Felicity had left from just a couple of days earlier. They left the keys in the boat, not caring what happened to it once they were ashore.

They found a taxi and got back to Felicity's hotel without incident. There was a moment of fear when the key card didn't want to work, but on the third try the door opened. She automatically brought the Do Not Disturb sign in with them and halted in her tracks barely inside the door.

"What is it?" Oliver asked, pushing ahead of her. 

The room had been ransacked. The sheets were off the beds, mattresses askew, clothes were all over the place.

"They must have searched your room as a precaution when you jumped ship," Oliver guessed. "Before going in search of you."

"I get why," Felicity said, numbly moving into the room. Oliver shut the door and secured the safety bar. "Doesn't make it any easier to see."

"Is anything missing?" 

"I doubt it."

Oliver set his trunk down and started to straighten the beds. "Do you want me to call housekeeping? Get them to remake the beds?"

Felicity blushed, shaking her head. "I don't want them wondering how they got that way. It'll be fine. I can make the beds myself." She set her bag on a table and looked around. "Why don't you grab a shower first while I put all my clothes away again and then I'll take a turn and you can have some privacy while you call home?"

"Sounds like a plan." Oliver brought his trunk over to the long dresser and set it on top. He unlocked it and grabbed a fresh change of clothes out of it before heading for the bathroom.

Felicity pushed aside her feelings of violation and began to re-order the room. It didn't take her very long since she was only going to be here a week. She was happy to discover that everything appeared to be there.

Glancing at the clock, she realized it wasn't even that late. She'd found her personal tablet among the mess, unscathed, and looked up the phone number for the lab she was working at here in Hong Kong. Luckily the team leader she was working with, Dr. Zhang, was still in the lab and she briefly explained what had happened to her and where she had been for the past two days. 

He said he'd been concerned when she hadn't shown up, and was ashamed to admit that he thought she had been blowing off work to go sightseeing, apologizing profusely. While Felicity was offended that someone could think she'd do something like that, that she was a flighty American, a blonde one at that - she could understand the stereotyping. She said that she would call Mr. Steele herself and inform him of what had happened, promising to be at work bright and early the next day.

The shower had turned off by the time she hung up the phone, feeling lighter already. She grabbed her pajamas (a tank top and shorts) which she'd left out on the bed, getting ready for her turn in the shower.

Oliver emerged from the bathroom dressed similarly to how she'd always seen him, rubbing a towel over his hair. 

"Who were you talking to?" he asked, sitting on what he assumed would be his bed.

"I called the Team Leader at QC to let him know where I've been. Can you believe he actually thought I had just blown off work to go sightseeing?"

"Didn't you? Isn't that how you ended up out on the water?"

"Yes, but not on purpose! I thought it was company sanctioned sightseeing, not work-shirking sightseeing."

Oliver laughed. She was adorable when she got all worked up.

"Go ahead and take your well-earned shower. I'll order room service and call home."

"Food sounds great. Order me anything, as long as it doesn't have nuts. You do not want to see what happens if I eat nuts."

"Noted. Enjoy your shower."

"I will," she beamed, closing the door behind her.

Oliver found the room service menu and called down to place the order, taking care of the easy part first.

He rubbed his hands on his thighs, preparing to make the next call. 

Holding his breath, he dialed the mansion.

It would be early there, so he expected Raisa or one of the other household staff to answer; he was therefore surprised to hear his mother's voice at the other end of the line.

"Hello?"

His voice caught in his throat.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

"M-mom?" Oliver croaked, tears suddenly streaming down his face. "Mom, it's Oliver. I'm alive."

"I don't know who this is, but that isn't funny. I'm hanging up."

"Mom, no, wait," Oliver shouted. "My name is Oliver Jonas Queen and I am your son. I've been trapped on an island in the North China Sea for three years. Ever since the Queen's Gambit went down in a storm. I'm the only one who survived. It's me, Mom. I'm alive."

"O-Oliver?" Moira weakly asked, wanting so hard to believe the voice she was hearing was her darling boy's. It sounded so much like him. "Can that really be you?"

"It's me. I finally escaped the island today. It's a long story, but I'm in Hong Kong now. There was a girl from Queen Consolidated who… got lost... and ended up on the island I've been trapped on. Her name is Felicity Smoak. Walter Steele sent her to Hong Kong. You can check with him. She's going to call him when I get off the phone. He'll verify my story once he talks to her."

"With that much detail I probably don't need to check with Walter, but I will. I-If it is you, I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you, too. You and Thea. I can't wait to see how much Speedy has grown," Oliver said. "I can't wait to come home."

"If Walter confirms your story, we'll be on the family jet as soon as we're able."

"I better let Felicity make that call," Oliver said, joy swelling inside him. "She'll give Walter the number of the hotel."

"Agreed," Moira said. 

"I love you, Mom."

"I love you, too."

Oliver hung up the phone and wiped his cheeks. He hadn't realized he'd been crying the entire time he'd been on the phone, even though he also couldn't stop grinning.

He could understand his mother's reluctance to believe he was who he said he was on the phone. Other men may have called her over the years, claiming to be her son back from the dead. He knew using Walter's name would help her to believe him, though. Not everyone would be able to know to use him as a reference.

Felicity emerged from the bathroom some time later, a cloud of steam following her out. Her hair was wet and loose around her shoulders.

Oliver rushed over to her and lifted her up, spinning her in circles.

"I take it the call went well?" Felicity giggled, clutching at his shoulders. 

"I talked to my mom!" Oliver eagerly told her. "She doesn't really believe that it's me, yet, but she will. I need you to call Walter, right now." He carried her over to the bed and dropped her on it.

"Right now?" Felicity laughed.

"He's going to confirm that I am who I said I am. I told her that Felicity Smoak was sent to Hong Kong by Walter Steele and she - you - got lost and ended up on the island and we just got back here. I said that you were going to call Walter to tell him what had happened and then he could confirm my story," he eagerly told her. He was babbling like a little boy in his excitement.

There was a knock at the door and they both tensed. The call of "room service" helped them to relax. 

"I'll go get that. You call Walter," Oliver suggested.

In response, Felicity picked up the phone and called the Queen Consolidated main number in Starling City. She asked for Mr. Steele, gave her name, and said it was urgent.

"Ms. Smoak, it's good to hear your voice," Walter greeted her. "I trust everything is going smoothly in Hong Kong?"

"Actually, that's why I'm calling," Felicity said, watching as Oliver brought the food over to the table and watched her expectantly. "It appears that there's something going on with the tablet I was given here in Hong Kong; something probably not entirely legal. I was kidnapped by people who I found out are from the Chinese Triad and they wanted the tablet I was given upon my arrival here."

"I'm sorry; did you just say you were kidnapped?" Walter interrupted. She could almost hear him sitting up straighter in his chair.

"Uh huh," Felicity said, nodding even though he couldn't see her. 

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I got away. They'd taken me out on a boat and I jumped overboard and managed to swim away. I washed up on this island and you'll never guess who I found there."

"I wouldn't be able to fathom a guess."

Felicity took a deep breath. "Oliver Queen."

"That's not possible," Walter said. "Oliver drowned in the North…"

"China Sea," Felicity finished. "Yeah. He was the only one to survive when the Queen's Gambit went down. He's been on this island ever since."

"Oliver's alive?" Walter said, wonder in his voice.

"Do you want to talk to him? He's right here." Felicity beckoned Oliver over, not that he needed the prompting.

Oliver didn't even wait for her to hand her the phone. He snatched it from her to say, "Hello, Mr. Steele."

"Oliver? My God, it sounds like you."

"It is me," Oliver said, growing tired of having to convince people of his identity.

"Robert? Is he with you?"

"My father went down with the ship," Oliver said, sticking to the less painful version of the truth. "Everyone else went down but somehow I survived. I ended up on an island named Lian Yu with no way to get off and too far from anywhere to swim."

"And Ms. Smoak coincidentally ended up on this same island?"

"She did," Oliver agreed, smiling down at her. "The people after her tablet must have been searching all of the islands because they showed up on mine today. We were able to subdue them and took their boat. I called my mom the first chance I got when we got to shore. I'm with Felicity, in the hotel room you put her up in. I told my mom that Felicity would tell you her story and you would call Mom to make sure that the stories match. That she really is the person you sent to Hong Kong so I really must be me. Are you convinced? Will you tell my mom to bring me home?"

"Yes, Oliver, let's bring you home."


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally earning the rating with this chapter.

Chapter 11

Oliver handed Felicity the phone again, too overwhelmed to say anything else.

Felicity gave Walter her hotel's phone and room number and they rang off. She sat next to Oliver and pulled him into a hug. He pulled her tight to him, holding on as if for life.

"I'm going home," he said into her neck, over and over.

Felicity squeezed him tighter, knowing she had no way of understanding what he was going through right now. 

They were still wrapped around each other when the phone rang.

Felicity reached to answer it since it was still, technically, her room. "Hello?"

"This is Moira Queen, is this Felicity Smoak?"

Felicity squeaked, pushing away from Oliver. "Mrs. Queen, hello. Yes, this is Felicity. I assume you want to talk to Oliver?"

"Yes, may I please speak with my son?"

"Of course," she said. She covered the mouthpiece and whispered, "She called you her son."

"Mom? You spoke with Walter?"

"Yes, Mr. Steele confirmed your story. The jet is being fueled and we are on our way to the airport as soon as I hang up. We should arrive in Hong Kong around 6pm local time, tomorrow."

"I think I'll go to work with Felicity tomorrow, so come to the QC Manufacturing plant when you get in. Walter can tell you where it is."

"Walter will be coming with me. He feels terrible that Felicity has gone through so much because of him."

"I look forward to seeing him again," Oliver said, formally. "I've missed you, Mom."

"I've missed you, too. I'll see you soon."

Oliver hung up. "They're on their way. They'll be here tomorrow."

"And you're coming to work with me?" Felicity asked, quirking her eyebrow.

"I hope that's okay. I kind of don't want to let you out of my sight."

Felicity flushed with warmth. "It's fine with me, but you'll have to convince my team leader to let you past security. Now what did you do with the food?"

Oliver gestured towards the table near the window. "Over there."

Felicity grabbed his hand. "Come on, you need to eat too."

"I don't know if I could keep anything down. I'm too excited."

"Well, you have almost a full day before you're going anywhere, so you may as well eat," Felicity pointed out.

Oliver had ordered simple sandwiches and sodas, which they ate in relative quiet. He was once again lost in his thoughts.

Felicity finished eating and moved to sit on the bed, leaning against the headboard. 

"So, what do you think you'll do when you get home?" she asked, breaking the silence.

"I imagine my mom will insist I see a doctor first, and then I want to see Speedy," Oliver said. At Felicity's confused look, he clarified, "My sister, Thea. I used to call her Speedy because she used to run around following me and Tommy when she was little. Tommy was, is, my best friend."

"I'm sure she can't wait to see you either," Felicity grinned. "But why don't you want to see a doctor?"

"What makes you think that?" Oliver bristled.

"The look on your face when you said it," Felicity said, shrugging one shoulder. 

Oliver looked almost nervous as he said, "My body has taken a lot of abuse over the past few years. I don't know if I'm ready for my family to know the extent of what I've been through."

Felicity thought about it and realized that she had only seen him fully covered, aside from his face. 

"Things like what, if you don't mind me asking?"

Silently, Oliver stood and removed his shirt, bracing himself for her reaction. 

Felicity gasped. She was on her feet before she even knew what was happening, one hand extended before her, reaching for him, but stopping before she could actually touch him.

His right shoulder was a mass of scars and there was a row of what looked like puncture marks along the left side of his torso. He had some other scars she couldn't even guess what they were from. Moving around him, her eyes were drawn to the dragon tattoo on his back.

Finishing her circle, she met his eyes and asked, "How did you survive all of this?"

Oliver was surprised to see only wonder in her eyes, not the pity he expected. "There were times when I didn't think that I would," he admitted. Felicity's hands were hovering over his chest, the heat of them setting his skin on fire. He swallowed thickly and whispered, "It's okay to touch them." He silently added, 'To touch me.'

Felicity's eyes bounced up to meet his briefly before returning to his chest. He'd acquired some impressive muscle definition along with the scars. Unconsciously, she licked her lips as she brushed her fingertips over the massive scar near his shoulder.

Oliver inhaled sharply, his fingers curling into fists so that he wouldn't push Felicity away. So that he wouldn't pull her closer and do something stupid.

"Is this okay?" she asked quietly, her breath puffing against his skin.

"Y-yeah."

Her fingers gently traced the scar. 

"That was from an arrow. I was shot from behind my first day on the island," Oliver told her. 

"And this?" she asked, using her other hand to trace the scars on his torso.

"Tortured with a sword," he gruffly told her. The torture her light touches were inflicting on him was something else altogether.

"By the men in the camp?" Felicity guessed.

He nodded. It had been a long time since he'd been touched so gently. Even when he'd been with Sara or Shado, there were never soft touches like this. It was always quick and often rough, stealing pleasure when they could before some bad guy - or Slade - found them.

Finally, Oliver brought his hands up to cover hers. "Felicity," he groaned. She met his eyes and he was relieved to find them just as darkened by lust as his own must have been. 

"Yes," she said to his unasked question and before she could blink his lips were on hers. 

This kiss was nothing like the pecks on the beach. This was rough, and wet, and needy. Oliver's hands moved to cup her face, pulling her closer as she slid one hand up to the nape of his neck, the other sliding around his back. 

Oliver walked them the two paces it took to get to a bed and Felicity fell onto it. She giggled, sliding back on it, reaching for Oliver who was already crawling up the bed and over her.

He trailed kisses up her cloth-covered belly and chest until he was hovering over her.

"Hi," Felicity said, smiling shyly up at him. 

Oliver smiled widely. "Hi." He rested on one arm, brushing the hair away from her face with his other hand. "Is this okay?"

Felicity undulated under him, causing him to groan as she brushed against his growing hardness.

"More than," she purred, running her fingers up and down his back. A moment later she paused and turned her head to the side, "Crap!"

Oliver frowned. "What?"

"I don't have...anything," she said, blushing. "I came here for business and I wasn't expecting to meet anyone. I'm guessing they didn't sell condoms on that island of yours. I know I'm clean, but who knows where you've been. No offense."

Oliver buried his face in her neck with a whimper of disappointment, shaking his head. "No, you're right, we should use one." He kissed her behind the ear and felt the shiver that went through her body as her nails bit into his back.

"I think we can find ways to get around that," he told her, kissing his way towards her chest. He sat back so that he was straddling her thighs and slid his hands under her tank top. He waited for her nod of consent before sliding it up her body. She sat up enough for him to lift it over her head. She laughed when he pouted upon seeing her bra.

"Did you really expect me to not be wearing one?" she asked. "We barely know each other and I didn't have seduction in mind for tonight."

"You didn't need to," Oliver said, mesmerized as she reached behind her to remove the offending garment. "You're sexy as hell all on your own."

Felicity's blush extended all the way down her chest, he noted as he bent to take one of her breasts in his mouth. She arched up into him as his teeth and tongue teased her nipples to hardness. Her fingers slid into his long hair, holding him to her. When he switched his attention to her other breast, she made a keening noise she wasn't sure she'd ever made before.

Far too soon, Oliver left her breasts and began to kiss his way down her body. When he reached her shorts, he glanced up at her for permission, which he got in the form of Felicity raising her hips, and pulled them down her smooth legs. He parted her thighs with his hands and settled himself between her legs. 

"Don't you want me to touch you?" Felicity offered.

"Later," Oliver grunted. "First I need to taste you."

"Please," Felicity whimpered, feeling the wetness grow between her thighs.

He bent his head and ran his tongue slowly along the full length of her slit before focusing on her clit. "You're so wet," he mumbled against her skin, sending pleasurable sparks along her skin. "I wish I could be inside you."

"Another. Time," Felicity panted. "For now. Just keep. Doing. That." Her voice rose several octaves on the last word as Oliver slid one long finger inside her, stealing her ability to speak. 

Her fingers were once again buried in his hair. Needing to touch him. Needing to hold on to something. To him. 

His talented tongue already had her close to the edge, and when he added a second finger inside her and grazed his teeth against her clit, she fell right over it, his name on her lips. Her body writhed as pleasure spread through her entire body, leaving her languid and sated.

Oliver crawled back up the bed, lying next to her. Felicity rolled against his side, propping her head on his chest as he stroked her back. "That was incredible," she purred, pressing into his side. "You're really good at that."

Oliver tried not to look smug as he said, "Thank you."

He slowly brought his mouth to hers, waiting to see if she'd be repulsed by her own taste, but she surged up to meet him, kissing him thoroughly. 

He rolled so they were both on their sides, lips still devouring each other's. It wasn't long before he felt Felicity's hands sliding down his chest to his pants. She had the button open and zipper down before he'd even realized what she was doing and helped her to shove his pants and boxers down his legs. He broke the kiss to kick them off, but those few seconds felt like an eternity to be separated. 

She ran a hand over his hip before sliding it towards her goal. He bucked as she wrapped her hand around his erection, biting her bottom lip. She whimpered in answer to his groan and began to stroke him with firm, even strokes.

He pressed into her hand, marveling at how she seemed to know how to touch him just right. When she broke the kiss and started to move down his body, he stopped her. 

"Don't you want me to…" she nodded her head towards where she was still stroking him, "return the favor?"

"Maybe some other time," Oliver managed to say, although he wasn't sure how he was able to form words. "Right now I just really need to keep kissing you."

Her lips recaptured his and he moaned into her mouth, one hand cupping her cheek as the other reached for a breast.

She alternated her strokes, sometimes focusing on the head before moving down to the base, and then back up again. She slid her other hand between his thighs and began to gently massage his balls. 

That seemed to be too much for Oliver and without warning he began to come. She continued to stroke him through his orgasm until he had to push her hand away from his over-sensitized flesh. 

He flopped onto his back. Felicity gave him a quick peck on his lips before rising from the bed. He could hear water running in the bathroom and then Felicity was back with a damp washcloth, wiping his spend from his belly. He was vaguely aware of her tossing the cloth towards the bathroom.

"Up, you," Felicity instructed. "We need to get under the covers."

Oliver groaned, but did as she asked. He had a feeling that he would always do what she asked. Under normal circumstances a thought like that would scare him, but he felt too good and too tired to worry about it now.

Felicity set the alarm on the bedside clock since she still hadn't tested her phone and turned off the lights in the room before joining Oliver in bed. She lay on her side and soon felt Oliver mold himself to her back, one arm draped across her belly. Minutes later she was asleep.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Felicity had never hated an alarm clock as much as she did the one waking her the next morning. She was comfortable and snuggled against a warm male body; one that was emitting a pained groan from behind her.

"What is that?" Oliver grumbled against her shoulder.

"It's just the alarm clock. Time to get up to get ready for work," she answered, reaching to shut it off.

"Do you have to?" he asked, pulling her back so she was on her back beneath him.

"I'm afraid that I do. I promised my team leader I'd bring in the tablet so we can figure out why the Triad is after it."

"Can't you stay here with me?" he whined. "I'll make it worth your while." He kissed her then, slow and deep.

"Tempting," Felicity whimpered when they parted. "Really tempting. But this is my job. Besides, don't you want to know what they were after?"

"Not more than I want to spend the day in bed with you," Oliver countered, nipping at her flesh.

"When we're back in Starling City, if you still want that, then you just name the day. So long as it's a weekend and I don't have to be at work," Felicity promised.

"Oh, I'll want to," Oliver confidently told her.

"We'll see," Felicity said; unsure that Oliver would want this with her once he saw his old flame again. She wasn't about to get her hopes up that this billionaire-back-from-the-dead was going to fall head over heels in love with her after this little adventure.

Before Oliver could try to reassure her that he wanted to pursue a relationship with her when they got home she had pushed him off of her and was out of the bed and in the bathroom. Moments later the shower could be heard.

He didn't fully understand this sudden, deep, attraction he felt for Felicity. He wasn't one to have feelings for every pretty face. Sure, he used to be willing to fuck any pretty girl he met, but he knew that wasn't him anymore. This was something different. 

In the short time he'd known her, Felicity had already become someone he felt he could trust. He felt protective of her in a way he wasn't used to experiencing. She was funny, and caring, and yes, beautiful. She could look at him and see past the scars to what he'd been through to have them. He may not know that much about her yet, but he wanted to. He wanted to know everything about her. 

He pulled on the clothes he'd worn last night since he hadn't been in them for very long. It wasn't like he had much of an assortment to choose from anyway.

He was reading The Odyssey, which Felicity had left out while she was reclaiming the room the night before, when Felicity emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a white towel. 

His eyes darkened upon seeing her.

"I, um, didn't think to take any clothes in with me," she said, holding the towel tight to her chest. Even though he had seen her naked, that was under a different context. 

"It's," he had to clear his throat, "it's fine. I'll just go use the facilities while you dress." It took him a minute to put action to words, but eventually he forced himself to do as he'd said.

As soon as the bathroom door closed, Felicity rushed to find some underwear. She found herself wishing she'd brought some of the cute sets she had back home, but all she'd brought was boring white. Oh well. Oliver hadn't seemed to mind the boring white last night, she reminded herself. 

Once her undergarments were on, she moved to the closet. She was almost relieved to slip into the polka dot blouse and black pencil skirt. It was like donning armor for the workday. She set aside a pair of black heels and waited for Oliver to come out so she could finish her make-up and hair in the bathroom.

She didn't have long to wait. Rather than returning to the bedroom, Oliver stayed leaning in the bathroom doorway while Felicity finished preparing for the day.

"You don't have to watch me, you know," she said when she finished drying her hair. She thought about wearing it down, but she was going to be working on the tablet today and didn't want it in her face. Instead, she pulled it into a low ponytail, making sure her hair covered the tops of her ears so that her industrial piercing wouldn't be on display.

"I know you," Oliver said, wonder in his voice as he stood up straight.

"Uh, yeah, we've spent the past few days together," Felicity pointed out.

"No," Oliver shook his head, coming into the bathroom, "from before."

"What are you talking about? We never met before. I would definitely have remembered that."

"We didn't meet, but I saw you." Felicity turned from the mirror to look at him, the question clear on her face. "Remember I told you that we captured Chien Na Wei a few months ago?" Felicity nodded and Oliver huffed out a breath. "That happened in Starling City. I had to break into my mother's office to get some information and had to hide when someone came in. A woman. You." Oliver cupped her face. "You were talking to yourself."

"That does sound like something I would do," she said, leaning into his touch. "And you didn't recognize me until now?"

"I couldn't see your face very well that night. I was also kind of focused on my mission. But this is what you were wearing that night," he told her, running a hand down her side and over her hip. "Seeing you just now looking like you did then triggered my memory."

"Too bad you didn't remember sooner." Felicity leaned up to kiss him before pushing him away. "Now let me finish so we can get going."

Oliver returned to his spot leaning against the door frame and Felicity turned back to her make-up bag. She pulled out her favorite fuchsia lipstick and began to apply it. She spun around when Oliver made a strange noise as she'd rubbed her lips together to make sure the color was even.

"What's wrong?" she asked, concerned.

"Nothing," Oliver choked out. One of his arms was hanging down across his body, trying to hide the sudden evidence of his arousal. "I just really like that color on you."

Felicity grinned and gestured for him to back away from the door. She slipped into her heels and went about preparing her bag for what she'd need for the day, making sure to take the tablet and her phone with them. 

She turned to find Oliver standing by the door, his shoes on, waiting for her.

They grabbed a quick breakfast in the hotel dining room before heading for Queen Consolidated's manufacturing facilities. 

Getting Oliver into the building proved easier than she'd expected. Apparently Walter had called ahead and informed security that Oliver would be joining her, so a security pass was waiting for him. 

Felicity entered the lab she was working in and immediately found her team leader. "Dr. Zhang, this is Oliver Queen, he'll be joining us today, if that's alright. Oliver, this is my team leader, Dr. Zhang."

"It is an honor to meet you, Mr. Queen," Zhang said with a slight bow. "I was glad to hear you were not dead, after all."

Oliver returned the bow. "Thank you, Dr. Zhang. Please forgive the intrusion of my presence here today. After everything that Felicity has been through, I wanted to make sure she arrived here with the tablet intact."

Felicity blinked at Oliver, surprised that he could be so formal. Although she supposed that he had been groomed to take over the family business. 

"Ah, yes, the tablet," Zhang said. "Have you been able to get it working yet?"

"I haven't had a chance to test it yet," Felicity admitted, pulling it from her bag. "I took it apart to dry when I arrived on the island, but there hasn't been time to see if it works since we got back to Hong Kong."

She set it on a counter and pressed the power button, holding her breath. A smile lit her face when it turned on. She immediately entered her password and relaxed even more when the home page opened before her.

"It appears you took the correct course of action," Zhang said. "Did your captors say why this tablet was so important?"

"That certainly would have been nice, but no. She just kept demanding that I give it to her, but I don't understand why. I've been over the specs dozens of times and there's nothing about how it was built to make it different from any other tablet on the market. Could it be the software?"

"It must be," Zhang agreed. "As this one is one of the test models, we added some additional security coding. Nothing out of the ordinary, though." 

Felicity took a seat at one of the computers and hooked the tablet up to it. "I don't recall seeing any additional security on the tablet. Do you know what it was for?"

"I was told that it was a secondary password in case someone tried to hack into it," Zhang said.

"You were told?" Oliver asked. "You didn't make that call? I thought you were the leader on this project."

"I am, but even I must answer to those above me," he said.

"Do you know the secondary password?" Felicity asked, logging out. 

"2-0-0-7," Zhang recited.

Oliver made a choking sound behind her. 

"Oliver, what's wrong?" she asked, turning to face him. 

"That's the year the Gambit went down," he grimly reminded her. 

Their eyes met briefly before Felicity turned to Zhang. "That can't be a coincidence."

She entered the password into the tablet and marveled at the code that streamed in front of her.

"What's it say?" Oliver asked; the numbers and letters scrolling across the screen meaning nothing to him.

"It's a backdoor into Queen Consolidated's mainframe," Felicity said, quietly. She looked up at Zhang, who wore an equal expression of horror. 

"If this tablet got into the wrong hands, they'd have access to everything. Not just the specs for the new line of tablets but everything Applied Sciences is developing. All of our financial records. Just, everything," Felicity said, clutching the tablet to her chest.

"Do you know who gave the order to install this...back door?" Oliver asked Zhang.

"I do not. Someone was brought in to handle that part of the coding," Zhang admitted. 

"Who?" Oliver growled.

Zhang looked around and pointed to an unassuming man on the other side of the room. "Him," he said, pointing.

Oliver rushed towards the man, who dropped what he'd been doing to pull out a gun, aiming for the man running towards him. Oliver barreled into him before he had time to get a shot off, slamming him into a wall. He grabbed the hand holding the gun and banged it into the wall until the man dropped his gun. He pulled back enough to land a solid punch, knocking him out. He bent to pick up the gun and then lifted the unconscious man in a fireman carry.

"I'm going to need a soundproof room," he said to Zhang, ignoring the screams of the other techs in the office, and avoiding Felicity's eyes.

"Wh-what are you going to do with him?" Felicity asked, not wanting to hear the answer.

"I'm going to get some answers," Oliver said. 

"You're going to torture him?" Felicity clarified.

"Yes," he simply stated. Turning to Zhang he asked, "Where?"

Zhang pointed to a small room off of the one they were in. Oliver nodded and headed for it, dropping the man into a chair. He found some duct tape in a box in one corner and began to secure the man to the chair.

Felicity had followed him into the room and she shivered at the methodical way Oliver was tying up the traitor. "Oliver--" 

"Not now," he coldly interrupted. "You should go back in the other room. This isn't going to be pretty."

"How do you even know what you're doing?" she asked. The man before her hardly seemed anything like the man she'd shared her bed with the night before.

He decided to give her at least that much. "The people who had me last year? This is what they trained me to do," he said. 

"They trained you to be a torturer?"

"They trained me how to get answers out of people, by any means necessary," he confirmed. 

"You don't have to do this," she tried to protest.

"Do you have a better idea of how to get answers quickly?" Oliver growled, turning to face her, his eyes cold.

She shook her head. 

"I won't hurt him any more than I have to," Oliver promised. "I don't enjoy this, but I've learned that it's effective."

Felicity nodded, sadly, and left the room, closing the door behind her. The last she saw of Oliver was him pulling the shade down over the window.

"I need to get some air," she told Zhang, hurrying from the lab, needing to be as far from what Oliver was doing as possible.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Oliver found Felicity some time later in the courtyard, nursing a cup of coffee.

"Hey," he said quietly.

Despite his slow approach, Felicity still jumped in her seat. 

"Sorry, guess I was lost in thought," she apologized. "Join me?"

Oliver gratefully sat next to her on the bench. "I was afraid you wouldn't want to speak to me again," he admitted.

"So was I," she said, turning towards him. She still couldn't meet his eyes as she asked, "Did you get what you needed?"

He nodded. "It was Frank Chen."

"I don't know who that is," Felicity stated.

"He was a business associate of my father's. I know they were working on some big project before we left. Apparently he has ties to the Triad," Oliver told her, his hands clenched into fists on his thighs. 

"A-and that man," Felicity hesitantly asked. "Is he still alive?"

"Of course he is," Oliver told her. "Like I told you, I don't enjoy hurting people to get information. I barely needed to hurt him at all, in fact. He folded pretty quickly."

"Really?" Felicity perked up. 

"I promise. I left him tied to the chair until my mom gets here and we can figure out what to do with him together. You can see for yourself that he's okay."

"Oh, thank goodness," Felicity said in a rush. "I've been sitting out here trying to reconcile the feelings I was having for you last night with the feelings I was having for you this afternoon."

"You have feelings?" Oliver teased her, butterflies suddenly taking flight in his belly.

"Some," she admitted, blushing deeply. 

"I have feelings, too," Oliver whispered, trying to catch her eye. 

She looked up at him, surprised. She had assumed that what she was feeling was mostly one sided.

"You do?"

Oliver closed the distance between them, kissing her slowly and with intent. 

"I like your feelings," Felicity said against his lips. 

Oliver chuckled. Oh yes, he most definitely had feelings for this girl.

Sobering, Felicity asked, "Is that the last time you're going to have to torture someone?"

Oliver quickly had a mental debate with himself, but after watching Felicity in the lab, he decided to take the risk.

"Probably not," he told her, honestly.

"The people who had you last year?" she guessed.

"No." He looked around to make sure they were alone before he pulled his father's notebook from a pocket and handed it to her. "My father didn't die when the Gambit went down. We both made it to the life raft. He gave me this and told me that he had failed the city and he needed me to right his wrongs and then he shot himself."

"Oh, God, Oliver," Felicity gasped, holding his hand.

"At first I thought it was just a blank notebook, but one day I was holding it over the fire and a bunch of names appeared. The whole thing filled up with names as I turned the pages over the fire. These are the names of the people who are ruining my city. I need to honor my father by eliminating them."

"So you're going to, what? Become some kind of vigilante?" Felicity asked, scoffing at the idea.

"Precisely," Oliver told her.

"You can't be serious," she said, flipping through the notebook. "There have to be hundreds of names in here. You can't plan on killing all of these people."

"I don't _plan_ on killing anyone," Oliver said. "I will, however, make them pay in whatever manner best fits their individual crimes. These people are slumlords, cost-cutters; selfish people only out to make a profit at the expense of everyone else. They've gotten away with it for too long. They need to be made to pay."

"So dig up dirt on them and give it to the cops," Felicity suggested. "Let the legal system deal with them."

"Most of these people have judges and cops in their pockets. It's how they've gotten away with this for so long. The law won't help, so it's up to us."

He looked into her eyes as he finished speaking.

"Us?" Felicity squeaked. "As in you and me?"

"I need your help with this," Oliver implored. "I don't doubt that I can find these guys and dole out their punishment, but I could really use a partner. You're smart. Watching you today, I know you'll be able to help me catch these guys better and faster than I could on my own. Possibly even without having to harm them physically."

"I'm going to have to think about this," Felicity told him. "I don't know if this is something that I want to be involved in."

"I know it's a lot to drop on you at once, but we can do some real good together," Oliver said. "And just think of all the time we'll get to spend together while fighting crime." He bumped her shoulder with his.

"Where would we even do this?"

"I have a plan." When she looked at him incredulously, he added, "What? I've had a lot of time to think over the past three years. We used to have a steel factory in the Glades that was shut down years before I got on that damned boat. If it's still abandoned, I want to build a base of operations on one of the lower levels and open a nightclub above it. It'll be the perfect cover for playboy Oliver Queen. That way no one will question where I spend my nights because nightclub owners are expected to be out late."

"Wow, you really have thought this through," Felicity said, impressed. "If, and that's a big, IF, I agree to join on, I would get to be in charge of the tech that goes into the...lair."

Oliver grinned. "You've got a deal," he said. He sealed his promise with a kiss.

Felicity was handing the notebook back to Oliver when they heard a woman yelling from the other side of the courtyard, "Where is my son? Where is Oliver Queen?"

Oliver jumped to his feet, calling out, "Mom?"

Moira spun to face him and nearly collapsed when she saw him running towards her. He pulled her into a hug, taking her weight. 

"It's really you, my darling boy," she said through her tears. She stood back, taking a look at him, keeping hold of one of his hands. She noticed he'd filled out since she'd seen him last, and his hair… She ran her hand over it and said, "We'll get you cleaned up when you get home."

Oliver smiled, knowing that she wouldn't like the hair. He saw Felicity standing back and he gestured her over, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Mom, I'd like you to meet Felicity Smoak. Felicity, this is my mom, Moira Queen. And you already know Walter Steele. It's good to see you again." 

"It's wonderful to see you again, too, Oliver," Walter said. "Ms. Smoak, you're looking well after your ordeal."

"Thanks to Oliver, I came through relatively unscathed," she agreed. "Thank you for coming all this way to make sure I was alright."

"Think nothing of it," he said. "Have you been able to learn who was behind this?"

Felicity glanced up at Oliver before saying, "Perhaps we should move this conversation to my lab where we'll have a bit more privacy."

All parties agreed and they made their way into the building. Oliver reluctantly let her take Walter's proffered arm as he escorted his mother up to the lab.

Dr. Zhang was still in the lab and met them at the door. "I'm glad you're back, he's starting to complain, loudly."

Before Felicity or Oliver could respond, Walter asked, "Who is starting to complain?"

Oliver glared at Zhang before crossing to the closed door of the room he'd used for his interrogation. He opened the door for Walter. 

"This is the man who put code onto Felicity's test tablet with a backdoor to the Queen Consolidated mainframe," Oliver informed everyone. "He is a member of the Chinese Triad and did this on the orders of Frank Chen."

"That can't be right," Moira objected. "Frank's been a friend of the family for years."

"Apparently that friendship is over," Felicity said from the doorway. The man looked relatively unharmed, if a lot angry.

"Thank you, my dear, but this is hardly any of your concern," Moira said, dismissively.

"I beg to differ," Felicity said at the same time that Oliver said, "How can you say that?"

Felicity slowly walked up to Moira, all but pointing a finger into her chest. "I was kidnapped and almost died, a couple of times, because of that tablet. I very much think this concerns me."

Oliver had moved to stand behind her, radiating pride that this girl, woman, was standing up to his mother. Not many people could do that.

Moira watched as Oliver stood beside the girl. She saw the way he looked at her. She also couldn't help but be impressed that this girl had the nerve to stand up to her. 

"Of course, it does," Walter said, trying to head off a confrontation between the women in the room. 

"I wasn't sure what you wanted to do with him," Oliver said, changing the topic and nodding at the man bound to the chair.

"Hand him over to the local authorities," Moira said decisively. "I'm sure the Triad will take care of him once they learn that he has opened his mouth."

"Mom," Oliver gasped. "That's basically setting him up to be killed."

"So? He was the instrument to what could have been something extremely dangerous to our company. He could have been the gateway to our ruin. Let them have him."

Oliver had never seen this side of his mother before and he was starting to wonder if he knew as little about her as he had about his father.

"The important thing," Moira said, stepping up to Oliver, "is to get you home."

"About that?" Felicity piped up. "I was wondering; how do you plan on getting him home without a passport? Wasn't he officially declared dead?"

"I suppose a quick stop at the Embassy is in order," Walter said with a sigh. 

"We know people there who should be able to assist us," Moira added. "If nothing else, a fingerprint match should help prove his identity. Oliver's been arrested often enough for there to be records of his fingerprints."

"You've been arrested?" Felicity repeated. Oliver just shrugged.

"Ms. Smoak, perhaps you should join us. Our security team will be able to keep watch over you in case the Triad is still after you."

Felicity shivered, unconsciously leaning closer to Oliver. "Thank you. What do you want to do with the tablet?"

"What do you suggest?" Walter countered. 

"I think I should keep it. Once I have time to dig into the code I can take it apart. Make this just a regular old tablet," Felicity suggested. "Although we should probably also take any other test tablets that have been manufactured so I can check those over too."

"Agreed." Walter turned to Zhang. "Please recover all of the tablets and make sure they are delivered to our plane in the next three hours." He handed Zhang a business card with the airfield's address.

"Of course," Zhang agreed. "Ms. Smoak, it has been a pleasure to work with you."

"You too," she replied, gathering her belongings and following the Queens out.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The visit to the Embassy went pretty much how Moira described it would. They took Oliver's fingerprints and verified that he was who he claimed to be through a police database. A temporary passport was created and they were on their way. Felicity guessed some money changed hands, too, but she didn't witness it and she wasn't going to ask.

The next stop was Felicity's hotel. Moira and Walter waited in the lobby while she and Oliver went up to the room to pack, accompanied by one of the bodyguards who waited in the hall.

"You hanging in there alright?" Oliver asked when they were alone.

Felicity wrapped her arms around his waist. "Yeah. It's just been a surreal few days, ya know?"

"Make that a few years and yeah, I know," Oliver said, grinning down at her.

"I guess I should have been the one to ask you that question, then," she said. "How are you handling all of this?"

"Better than I'd thought I would," Oliver admitted. "It's strange seeing my mom again. I'm not the same person that I was when I left, and today I learned that she's not the person I remember, either."

"I don't think we ever know everything about our parents," Felicity said. 

"You're probably right," Oliver agreed. He kissed her forehead and forced himself to step back from her. "We should probably hurry up before they come looking for us."

"Yeah, you're right." Felicity retrieved her suitcase from the closet and opened it on her bed before returning for her clothes, she left one dress out and folded the rest away.

Oliver sat on a bed and watched her move around the room. "Why'd you leave that one out?" he asked.

"I'm going to change into it before we go. It'll be more comfortable for the plane ride."

"You don't want to wear slacks?"

"I didn't bring any with me," she told him, nonchalantly. "I generally prefer to wear skirts." 

She was still moving around the room and missed the way Oliver's eyes darkened with her admission. He suddenly wondered how difficult it would be to get Felicity to join the Mile High Club with him. Probably very difficult given the fact that his mother and Walter would be on the plane with them.

Felicity picked up the dress and went to change in the bathroom. It wasn't because she was still shy around Oliver, per se, but she knew that if she removed her clothes around him they probably wouldn't be leaving that room anytime soon. She changed quickly and then brought her toiletries with her when she emerged and packed them away.

"You look nice," Oliver said, coming to stand behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her to him.

"Thank you." Felicity turned in his arms and rested her palms on his chest. "I'm almost done and then we can get out of here."

"Just, wait a minute," Oliver requested. Felicity tilted her head in question. His answer was to lean down and kiss her and she eagerly kissed him back.

"It feels like I've been waiting to do that for hours," he groaned when they separated.

Felicity licked her lips and then glanced up at Oliver and giggled. She reached up and wiped away the traces of her lipstick from his mouth. 

"I may need to look into a colorstay lipstick," she commented. "I don't know how well they work when it comes to kissing, but it's worth checking out."

"I'd make that a top priority," he agreed, kissing her again. "I just hope it comes in this color."

There was a knock at the door, causing them to pull apart. It opened and the bodyguard asked, "Just about done in here, Sir?"

Keeping his back to the door, Oliver answered, "Just about. We'll be out soon."

"Very good, Sir." The door closed again.

"You go clean that off and I'll finish up here," Felicity suggested, pushing Oliver towards the bathroom. With one more stolen kiss, he went.

She removed a sweater she'd accidentally packed that she wanted to take on the airplane with her before adding the remaining few items and zipping the suitcase closed.

She was touching up her lipstick in the mirror in the room when Oliver returned. 

"That's just not fair," he groaned. 

Felicity smirked at him. "I guess you'll have to get used to it."

She grabbed her bag and the sweater with one hand, the suitcase with the other, and headed for the door, Oliver right behind her with his trunk.

The bodyguard relieved her of her suitcase as soon as they stepped into the hall, but Oliver insisted on carrying his own luggage.

The limo ride to the private airfield went smoothly, Felicity fidgeting only slightly while making small talk with her bosses. 

She'd never been on a private airplane before, and she knew her mouth was hanging slightly open when she stepped inside. There were several rows of extremely comfortable looking seats, two on either side of the aisle, some facing each other with a table between them. Towards the back of the plane was a sofa and what looked like a bar. Oliver took her hand and led her to one set of seats. When he offered her the window, she politely declined, explaining she had a fear of heights.

"You'd never know that from your behavior on the mountain," he told her, sliding in to sit by the window. 

"That was different," she said, settling into her seat. "I knew exactly where the ground was under my feet. I'm guessing you didn't notice how I kept well away from the edge of that precipice," she pointed out.

"You're right, I didn't notice that. I was too busy watching you enjoy the view."

A man in a uniform followed Walter onto the plane, carrying a small storage crate.

"Are those all the tablets?" Felicity asked.

"I certainly hope so," Walter said. 

"It looks like I'm going to have my work cut out for me," Felicity muttered.

Walter squeezed her shoulder as he moved past her. He and Moira took a couple of seats farther back on the plane.

Moira pressed an intercom button and said, "Captain, take us home."

The plane began to taxi down the runway and a few minutes later the pilot's voice came over the intercom.

"We've been cleared for takeoff."

They were the sweetest words Oliver had heard in years.

 

The End

 

_Stay tuned for Epilogue_


	15. Epilogue

Epilogue

Life had been a whirlwind for Felicity since her return from China. When she returned to work, she was hailed as the one who had rescued the long lost heir of the company. Her face was being splashed across every media outlet and tabloid as the savior and new girlfriend of the playboy castaway Oliver Queen. 

They found that their attraction and easiness around each other only grew once they were home and they were officially recognized as a couple now. 

She had freaked out, just a bit, over all of the media attention, but Oliver managed to calm her down. He was well used to being in the center of the public's eye and helped her adjust to her sudden local fame. 

Only it wasn't so local. 

Her mother called her, multiple times, when she saw Felicity's photo on TMZ and demanded to know a) how she'd become involved with a billionaire and b) was she okay after being kidnapped?

In that order. 

Felicity gave her the real story, not the one they'd given to the press, and swore her to secrecy. Company secrets and all that. Donna promised to keep the secret, just glad her baby was alright.

She may not have a lot in common with her mother, but Felicity knew that she loved her. 

Once he had settled back into life at the mansion and spent some time reconnecting with Thea and his best friend, Tommy Merlyn, Oliver followed through with the plan he'd invited Felicity in on.

While he worked on clearing a place in the factory's sub-basement and brought in generators and other equipment, Oliver continued to work on getting Felicity to agree to help him. 

She finally agreed to help him out, provisionally, and immediately started to order state-of-the-art computer equipment for them to use, with Oliver's credit card. If this operation was going to work, she was going to have to design her own encrypted server. That would be a breeze for the new Assistant Director of IT at Queen Consolidated.

Walter created the position for her upon their return to Starling City. This would give her the time to work on the dozen or so tablets they'd brought back with them from China, without having to deal with the menial duties she'd been performing in IT prior to her trip. Once that was done, she'd work on other special projects.

Felicity quickly learned that one of the perks of working in the lair with Oliver was that he liked to work out shirtless. And he worked out a lot. She found herself often losing track of what she was doing while watching Oliver on the salmon ladder, one of their favorite pieces of exercise equipment - his to use, hers to watch him on.

The first person they went after was Frank Chen. Felicity attacked him electronically, liquidating his company's assets before going after his personal finances. Once his leverage was taken away, Oliver paid him a visit. The injuries weren't life threatening, but would be a constant reminder of how Chen had failed his city. 

Oliver's bodyguard, John Diggle, was brought in on their mission after Diggle was shot by Oliver's target, Deadshot. Felicity liked Diggle, so she was glad to not have to keep their secret from him anymore. When he'd at first refused to join them - going so far as to quit being Oliver's bodyguard, not that he really needed one - she was the one who convinced him that what they were doing was a good thing.

On the nights when Oliver spent the night at her place, which was most nights, they continued to read The Odyssey to each other before bed; if they weren't too exhausted to do so. 

Which they often were.

Felicity often wondered if she'd ever find out how the book ended. 

But it didn't really matter. It was Oliver's story anyway, and he'd made it home. 

That was all she could ask for.

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who read, commented or left kudos for this story. This all started when I posted a plot bunny on LJ for a story I'd like to see written; but since my muse had abandoned me several years ago, I didn't think I'd write it. It turned out that my muse was intrigued and came back with a vengeance; and a week later this story was complete. 
> 
> For those of you who have asked, or just wondered, I never planned on re-writing the series. (See abandoned-by-muse comment above.) I'd been very nervous about entering this amazing fandom as a writer and you have made me feel very welcomed. I can only hope that my muse will allow me to write more Olicity stories. Although I doubt that it will be a sequel to this one. But with me, you never know. ;)


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